Daniel Chapter 3 Star Chart: Clockwise from when Shadrach (Castor), Meshach (Pollux), and Abednego (Auriga) did "not serve thy gods, nor worship the (solar) golden (Cepheus) image which thou (Nebuchadnezzar) hast (golden radius lines pedestal) set up" (3:18) in circa 586 BC till "the same hour" they were "cast into the midst of a (solar) burning fiery furnace" (3:6) in circa 586 BC is 15° since there are 24 hours in a 360° day (360/24 = 15). Notice Canis Major is the "harp" player (3:5). He is also tying the yellow rope around Castor and Pollux's feet. Notice also that the statue seems to be tottering on its pedestal. By the end of the hour, the big dog seems to be knocking over the pedestal with the help of Orion and Perseus. The destruction of the statue is all but assured when Nebuchadnezzar says they "changed the king's (golden radius line) word" (3:28) and then forbids speaking "any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego" (3:29). However, according to Herodotus, a statue of solid gold, 12 cubits high, stood in the temple of Belus, till it was taken away by Xerxes (1:182). Diodorus says a statue of gold, forty feet high, was taken by Xerxes from the tower of Babel in 479 BC on his way back to Susa from Greece (Diodorus Siculus 2). Sixty cubits height mentioned by Daniel probably included the pedestal or pillar, because otherwise its height would have been disproportionate to its breadth, six cubits (Dan. 3:1).

Both Greek versions of Daniel have an important addition saying that the event recorded in this chapter took place in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar -- 586 BC. Whence the tradition arose cannot be ascertained. It was certainly unknown to Josephus. It has been supposed that the date was added by the translators, on account of their supposing the erection of the image to be connected with the taking of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Some doubt this conclusion based on the siege itself not being finished till the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25:8). But it has been conjectured that the statue was one of the king himself, erected in commemoration of some great victories recently won by him, and 586 BC was a victory won by him.



"Worship My Golden Statue Sixty Cubits High &
Six Cubits Wide When You Hear
Six Instruments Play Music"


3:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an (golden radius line pedestal) image of gold, whose height was threescore (60) cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

There formerly stood in the temple of Belus, a statue of solid gold "twelve cubits high" (Her. 1:183) which may be identical with this "image of gold" since it is in proportion to the breadth of "six cubits" (3:1). A pedestal or pillar would account for the "sixty cubits" height (3:1). When Captain Selby was employed by our Government on the topographical survey of Mesopotamia, he discovered, at a distance of about twelve miles from the present ruins of Babylon, at a place called to this day 'the Waste of Dura,' the remains of a column something resembling an Egyptian obelisk in shape, and about seventy feet in height (47 cubits), which he supposed to be the original foundation or plinth of the statue on whose summit stood the 'image of gold which Nebuchadnezzar had set up.' This conical kiln-built brick ruin was a pedestal. (Truth of the Bible, Savile, p. 289).

2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the (Cepheus) king sent to gather together the (Gemini, Auriga, Orion and Perseus) princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the (Cepheus) image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

3 Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

4 Then an (Orion) herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O (Gemini, Auriga, Orion and Perseus) people, nations, and languages,

5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the (golden tube with lunar or solar bell end) cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer (6 instruments), and all kinds of musick, ye fall down (rotate) and worship the (golden radius line pedestal) golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the (Cepheus) king hath set up:

6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same (15°) hour be cast into the midst of a burning (solar) fiery furnace.

7 Therefore at that time, when all the (Gemini, Auriga, Orion, and Perseus) people heard the sound of the (golden radius line with lunar or solar bell end) cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the (Cepheus) golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

8 Wherefore at that time certain (Gemini, Auriga, Orion and Perseus) Chaldeans came near, and accused the (Castor, Pollux and Auriga) Jews.

9 They spake and said to the (Cepheus) king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.

10 Thou, O (Cepheus) king, hast made a (golden radius line) decree, that every man that shall (lunar ear) hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the (Cepheus) golden image:

11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a (solar) burning fiery furnace.

12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach (Castor), Meshach (Pollux), and Abednego (Auriga); these men, O (Cepheus) king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy (solar or lunar) gods, nor worship the golden (Cepheus) image which thou hast set up.

13 Then (Cepheus) Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach (Castor), Meshach (Pollux), and Abednego (Auriga). Then they brought these men before the king.

14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden (Cepheus) image which I have set up?

15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the (golden radius tube with solar or lunar bell end) cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same (15°) hour into the midst of a (solar) burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

16 Shadrach (Castor), Meshach (Pollux), and Abednego (Auriga), answered and said to the (Cepheus) king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the (solar) burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O (Cepheus) king.

18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O (Cepheus) king, that we will not serve thy (solar or lunar) gods, nor worship the (solar) golden (radius line) image which thou hast set up.

"The man in conscious virtue bold,
Who dares his secret purpose hold,
Unmoved he hears the crowd's tumultuous cries,
And the impetuous tyrant's angry brow defies." -- Horace

19 Then was (Cepheus) Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the (solar) furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

20 And he commanded the most mighty men (Canis Major; Orion) that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the (solar) burning fiery furnace.

21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the (solar) burning fiery furnace.

22 Therefore because the (Cepheus) king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding (solar) hot, the flames of the fire slew those (Canis Major; Orion) men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the (solar) burning fiery furnace.

24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the (Cepheus) king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O (Cepheus) king.

25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose (Perseus with Castor, Pollux and Auriga), walking in the midst of the (solar) fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God (Perseus in white Milky Way) .

26 Then Nebuchadnezzar (Cepheus) came near to the mouth of the (solar) burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach (Castor), Meshach (Pollux), and Abednego (Auriga), ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the (solar) fire.

27 And the (Gemini, Auriga, Orion and Perseus)princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the (solar) fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

28 Then Nebuchadnezzar (Cepheus) spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his (Perseus) angel, and delivered his (Gemini and Auriga) servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's (golden radius line) word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.

29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a (lunar black) dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.